Measurement Approaches of the Competitiveness of City Regions
Sarolta Noémi Horváth
Ph.D. student
University of Szeged
Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Doctoral School of Economics
Shape and Be Shaped: The Future Dynamics of Regional Development(5th-8th May 2013, Tampere, Finland)
HUNGARY
Table of contents
J ustification of the topic
D efinition of city-region
M easurement of the competitiveness of city- regions
Measurement methods
S ettlement particularities in Hungary
S ummary
Justification of the topic
Keywords: “city-region”, urban development, competitiveness, measurement approaches
Globalization transforming social-economic procedures localization level:
Relative importance of national economy decreases, regions and cities have growing economic roles.
D
ifferences in the economical development E
laboration of analising methods C
omparing and measuring of the competitiveness of city-regions E
laboration of strategical steps based on their competitive advantagesDefinition of city-region
According to OECD and European Commission, a city-region is:
It consists of one or more municipalities.
At least half of the city residents live in an urban centre.
An urban centre has at least 50,000 inhabitants.
If 15% of employed people living in one city work in another city, these cities are handled as a single city.
All municipalities with at least 15% of their employed residents working in a city are identified.
Municipalities sharing at least 50% of their border with the functional area are included.
The Larger Urban Zone consists of the city and its commuting zone.
Measurement of the competitiveness of city-regions
M any definitions of the term
P arkinson (2003):
Urban competitiveness is the ability of an economy to attract and maintain firms with stable or rising market shares in an activity, while maintaining stable or increasing standards of living for those who participate in it. The competitiveness of cities is not just about the income of firms but also about how that income goes to residents.
And competitiveness is different from competition.
Competition can be a zero-sum game, in which if one city
wins another loses. By contrast cities can all increase their
competitiveness at the same time, so that all cities and the
national economy can simultaneously grow and benefit.
Measurement methods
Lengyel’s pyramid model about succesful regions
Based on this logic Parkinson’s model:
Conceptualising Urban Competitive Performance
B HI:
Beacon Hill Institute / since 2001, every year /50 states of the United States and 48 metropolitan regions (order of rank)
O ECD:
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development /2006/Report studies the 78 largest metro-regions (1,5 million inhabitants)
G UCR:
Global Urban Competitiveness Report / since 2004, every year /Empirical studies competitiveness of 500 cities
S immie-Carpenter /2008/
Evolutionary economic and endogenous growth theory
explain competitiveness
P arkinson
/2003/ (previous slide) U rban Audit
/1998/EU urban areas
Settlement particularities in Hungary
Special space structure due to geographical changes in the twentieth century
Therefore no core cities, no larger urban zones
23 municipal towns; 3154 middle-sized and small towns and settlements
More than 50.000 inhabitans: urban centre
Types of micro-regions
/specific development phases/(Lengyel-Szakálné Kanó):
Budapest and micro-regions around it
urbanization adventages, many firms and employees
Manufacturing micro-regions
significant export performance, labour productivity is low, foreign-owned companies
University towns
excellent human capital
Stagnated urban micro-regions
surrounded by rural settlements with low-level economic performance
Summary
City-regions increasing importance pressure on national economy
Globalization- localization competition among cities some cities develop others decline
Competitiveness among cities is analysed from different perspectives
City-region is competitive if policies and conditions that ensure high level of GDP per capita and its continued growth attract and
incubate new businesses, provide the growth of existing firms
In Hungary measuring the competitiveness of urban micro-regions
Thank you for the attention!
E-mail: horvath.saci.noemi@gmail.com
The presentation is supported by the European Union and co-funded by the European Social Fund. Project title: “Broadening the knowledge base and supporting the long term professional sustainability of the Research University Centre of Excellence at the University of Szeged by ensuring the rising generation of excellent scientists.” Project number: TÁMOP-4.2.2/B-10/1-2010-0012